The rise of The Beast

It was early February this year when an impressive brute of a man from Sweden came to me for training. His name was Daniel Atterhagen, and at 1,92m tall and weighing 115kg, he was a former Gladiator (the TV show) and now he was in the process of changing lanes in his life. He wanted to become a professional wrestler.

The Beast has a mean game face.

Nicknamed “The Beast”, Daniel undertook to my coaching like a fish to water, learning incredibly fast. In a matter of mere days, I could already see that this guy was going to become something special in the world of pro wrestling.

Daniel already had a background in submission wrestling prior to coming to me for professional schooling, sent by STHLM Wrestling promoter Chris Sahlgren. He even took the bronze medal in the Swedish national submission wrestling championships in December 2014. His MMA career saw him go to the time limit with Sweden’s most prized MMA export, Alexander Gustafsson of UFC fame, only to lose by judge’s decision.

The Beast made his professional wrestling debut outside of his native country here in Finland at FCF Wrestling’s biggest annual flagship event, Talvisota IX, on February 7 this year in Helsinki. It was there, that after a very brief initial schooling period, he already took and demolished his opposition in a handicap 2-on-1 match. From there, Daniel went on to lay waste to the opposition in Sweden mere weeks later, further impressing in his young pro wrestling career.

With less than five pro matches under his belt, The Beast was already touted as the “next big thing” out of Sweden, with the explosiveness of Goldberg and the game face of Ken Shamrock, garnering the attention of the world’s premiere pro wrestling monolith, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Can you believe that?!? I think the pro wrestling world should be taking notice.

The coach and the protege.

And so it is, that Daniel “The Beast” Atterhagen will get his WWE tryout at the O2 Arena in London, England this coming weekend on April 18-19. I have never had a student in all of my years in the pro wrestling industry whom I have coached, who has risen as fast as The Beast and gotten a WWE tryout in the same short time.

I have to say that I am proud of Daniel for the effort, commitment and determination that he has put in after changing lanes in his personal life and choosing the new path of pro wrestling.

Now is your chance to go claim the big one. Make it count!

The Beast knocked out rookie Make Smooth at Talvisota with this chokeslam.